"Oh, what lovely times we'll have, girls!" sighed Mollie, when, a little later, the four chums were conversing. "We can go sailing, bathing and sit on the sands and watch the tide come in."
"And perhaps find buried pirate-treasure in some cave," added Betty, with a laugh.
"Can we, really?" asked Amy, perhaps the most unsophisticated of the quartette.
"Really what?" asked Grace, silently offering her bag of sweets. The habit was almost automatic with her.
"Find buried treasure," said Amy, eagerly. "I should love to do that. I've often read——"
"That's all you can do—read about it," spoke Mollie, regretfully. "There isn't any romance left in this world. If there was a pirate's cave it would be lighted with electricity and an admission fee charged. And yet the New England coast ought to contain some treasure. Some pirates used to land there."
"Did they, Mr. Nelson?" asked Amy, catching sight of Betty's father again glancing over the top of his paper.
"Did pirates ever land on the coast near where we are going?"
"Well, perhaps, yes. I believe there are several stories about Kidd's treasure being buried somewhere around Ocean View. Or, perhaps it would be more correct to say that one of Kidd's treasures. On the very lowest count he must have had at least a double score, all hidden in different places."
"Really?" demanded Amy, with glistening eyes, and flushed cheeks.